The 2nd of March 2013 was, as aptly described by Dr SS.Badrinath, Chairman Emeritus, Sankara Nethralaya a ‘Red Letter Day’ for the institution as it marked a new step towards fulfilling its founding principles of taking eye care across the length and breadth of the country. It was an equally significant day for Sri City as it was the Special Economic Zone’s step towards providing health care to the local people along with the employment opportunities it would bring in. Dr SS.Badrinath got the proceedings to a brisk start with a warm welcome to the dignitaries and a detailed note on the proposed health care facility at the SEZ located at Sulurpetta. Announcing the date of inaugural as 14th April 2013 (Tamil New Year’s day) he went on to describe the capacity, scope and the social and research objectives of the centre. He expressed that it would be an institution of translational medicine, an organ transplant center, a center for Nano- medicine and advanced stem cell therapy in addition to being a State of the Art ophthalmic centre. He expressed his profuse thanks to Shri Ravindra Sanna Reddy the promoter of Sri City for allotting the land and building for a noble cause and added on a high note that together Sri City and Sankara Nethralaya would make history.
Speaking on the occasion, Shri Ravindra Sanna Reddy, CEO, Sri City SEZ recalled his old association with Dr SS.Badrinanth and Sankara Nethralaya, he expressed that it was a significant day as a world class ophthalmic institution and a world class special economic zone were joining hands for a common cause and hence it would be a world class eye care and research center. Shri Chandrasekhar, an old well wisher, friend of Sankara Nethralaya and a former project engineer at L&T who acted as the bridge between the two organizations remarked that the allotment of the land and building was a good gesture of giving back to the community and hoped that the research institution in the new facility would help in filling in the critical gap in fundamental medical research that the country is suffering from.
The occasion witnessed in-depth presentations on Sankara Nethralaya’s involvement and achievements in the field of academics and its underlining commitment to a social cause by spreading education and knowledge by Srimathi Akila Ganesan, Registrar, the Sankara Nethralaya Academy and an interesting presentation of the inception and achievements of the Vision Research Foundation by Dr Ronnie George its Director and the relevance of nano-biotechnology by Dr S.Krishna Kumar, Head of the department, L&T Ocular Pathology
The function came to an end with a warm vote of thanks by Dr S.Bhaskaran, Chairman, Sankara Nethralaya.